Tempest
by koopychuppy
Summary: A stormtrooper life is one of monotony and anonymity, buried under armor, missing any blaster shot at the spotlight. Not this time. This story focuses on the two storm troopers from the Force Awakens who were unfortunate enough to catch Kylo Ren destroying the interrogations room and imagines how their lives progress while living under the control of the First Order.
1. Chapter 1

He was trashing the ship again. The two guards started as the sparks flew and reflected off the slick opaque blackness of their visors.

She was the first to react. She reached out to her partner halting his progress

" there's no way in hell I'm cleaning that up." She hissed, her voice crackling through the radio comms imbedded in their helmets.

He quietly grunted in agreement his shoulders tensing. "Let's just circle around and clear the hallway until he's done."

Slowly they backed away and retreated briskly once they were around the corner. Neither slowed their pace until the horrific gut wrenching gnashing of light saber beam on technical equipment faded from their audio receivers. The taller trooper suited in snowy plasticine armor skidded to a stop to catch his breath in a sigh of relief. His shorter companion sidled to a stop beside him.

"Should we wait awhile?" She offered.

"I think we'll be good. By the time we come back, his highness should be gone." He quipped. She could hear the laugh hidden in the edge of his voice even as it was masked by nervousness.

"You shouldn't call him that J," she countered teasingly. "You know they'll just schedule you for re-education." He grimaced mockingly at her response before he realized he was still wearing his helmet. They were still wearing their helmets. Any expression he made was a mystery to her.

Sometimes JM-5879 was glad of that. He remembered the first time he had seen his partner without the comfortable anonymity of her uniform. A flicker of heat rose over his cheeks at the memory of it. He was- very glad for the helmets.

Underneath, UI-4003 was—beautiful wasn't the right word. In actuality her features themselves and their overall combination were, by all accounts, considered universally plain. Her nose crooked a little at the end and her eyes were just a tad too far apart. She didn't have the pink of youth to soften her either. Still he hadn't been able to tear his eyes away. Maybe it was her coloring? His eyes crinkled in the corners as he pictured her as she was under all the plasticine and black visors. Her hair falling in a bleach bone fluff of pearly white just below the ear. Her skin dewing in soft opal pastels around crisp crystalline blue eyes. When he had first seen her, he thought at first that she must have been carved from ice and if he touched her, he would melt her away. She wasn't beautiful. She was _striking._

He coughed composing himself. " I don't really give a damn if they schedule me." He muttered. He shrugged at his partner and continued down the hall. " its relaxing."

She scampered to match his pace. "You think re-education is relaxing?" She scoffed.

" Well sure," he said, the amusement more evident this time. "Eventually you pass out and then its just a nice nap. It's not like we get a lot of those!" He dodged the playful punches that were his reward for his comedic effort.

Her voice turned serious. "I hate it when he does that." He grimaced again, calculating the potential damage a light saber could do to an interrogation chair.

"Me too." JM-5879 meant it. The damage the ship took from the caustic Knight of Ren was sometimes more than they took from their real enemy, the Resistance. Secretly JM resented the mysterious and unstable wielder of the Dark Force. All it took was a wave of the hand and Kylo Ren could control or destroy anything he wanted. No matter who had to clean up after.

He tried to push that thought out of his head. Thoughts like that had a price...and he wasn't sure yet if he was willing to pay it.


	2. Chapter 2

Patrols were easy and boring. Walk down the halls. Peek into vents and storage units. Find damage. Report it. Punch in. Punch out. Everything the same as always.

UI-4003 hated it. She missed being stationed planet side. There had been things to do at the base. Real work.

Still if she hadn't been promoted she wouldn't have met J. She smiled briefly under her helmet. J made even the most boring tasks tolerable.

They found a pipe leaking in the south quadrant. Steam screamed from the hair like crack. It had sprayed JM-5979 full in the helmet when he bent to look at it. UI-4003 couldn't help but chuckle.

J lifted off his helmet to wipe off the visor. U shifted slightly and tried to stifle a grin despite the cover of her helmet. J always looked so...human. His appearance was constantly at war with his pristine plasticine armor.

To U, J always reminded her of a jungle planet. His skin was rich and earthy. Black peat like hair fell in generous clumps from the short yet overgrown mohawk he insisted on buzzing into his scalp. Moss green eyes looked out under a canopy of lashes. He flashed a wild and playful smile snapping U out of her stare.

"This pipe won't be the only thing steaming if you keep staring at me." He laughed. That deserved a punch. U delivered.

"Ouch! Alright alright let's just fix it!" He wailed jokingly. He finished wiping his visor and slapped it back on with a schlump. "Okay let's see here."

Getting out a canister of sealant and some coverage bond, J made short work of the leak.

"There!" He crowed. "I doubt even his highness could bust this up." U rolled her eyes.

" Speaking of which." She chirped. " It's probably time to go inspect the damage."

They both turned to look down the hall. Neither looked forward to the discovery ahead.


	3. Chapter 3

—

UI-4003 walked briskly down the cold metallic corridors towards one of the many outer hangers of the base. While patrols with J were a welcome break from the monotony of her shifts, her primary function on the base lied in these hangers. It was time to get back to work. Work that felt like work.

The auto doors shucked open as she passed her ID band over the keypad. A stern voice called to her as soon as she passed over the threshold.

"You're late!"

UI-4003 glanced over to see the source of the voice. Other than the height, or lack there of, the stern stormtrooper was virtually indistinguishable from her. It was only the voice...and stature that identified her.

"Hey M. Sorry I was patrolling on the south end with J." She strolled over towards the slight stormtrooper and reached towards the storage pods hanging overhead. She opened one and retrieved a slim data chip.

MH-2378's grumble was muffled through the modulators of her helmet. "Cut it out with that short stuff. J...M...you're going to get us all sent to re-education." She shuddered. "You remember what Captain Phasma said in the briefing last quarter?"

U nodded and quoted sarcastically, "Units win wars, individuals loose battles." She sighed and slipped the chip into the small socket in the back of her helmet. "I remember. There are no individuals in the First Order. Only specialists..."

M clicked her tongue in disapproval at her tone. "Chip working?"

U glanced around. The chip, like all chips like it, was designed to modify the software inside the helmets to aid in _special operations._ Her's was currently modifying the visuals through her visor. All she had to do was blink twice and focus and the visual readout changed into a vibrant spectrum of gamma ray color that illuminated the interior of the cargo containers and ships surrounding them.

This was what she was _specialized_ in. Understanding the brilliant rainbow surrounding her. She was a security specialist and on Starkiller Base that translated to describe the very mundane task of screening incoming cargo. The energy field around the base kept most things tightly and boringly secure but every base, no matter how advanced, had weak spots and the cargo bay was one of them.

"Working like a dream. Let's get started."

The two circled down to the end of the hangar towards a towering stack of cargo containers. U generally disliked checking haulers, if anything checking TIE-fighters for contraband was more interesting, but the heavy containers were more likely to contain tricks from the Resistance.

They made their way to the first container. M gave it a quick glance. "Mostly organics, guess it's rations."

M made decisions quickly, U always needed a bit more time. "I'm going to circle around the back. I think I see something on the bottom."

M shrugged. "Suit yourself, you can do follow up, I'm going to check the rest."

U ignored her and peered closer at the spot. It was down far near the bottom of the hauler towards the attachment mechanism. A tiny sliver of green against cold metal blue on her visuals.

"Wait." She called back. "I think this might be perchlorate. Go get the extraction kit."

M sighed over her shoulder as she hustled back to fetch the kit. "Or it's a packet of that Haysian salt substitute. You know they like to feed us that cheap miner fodder."

U chuckled. "Nah M, pretty sure this isn't sub salt."

M jogged back, kit in hand, and skidded to a stop beside UI-4003. She handed her the kit and peered at the spot.

"I guess it is a little odd for sub salt to be wedged into the lock mech..."

"Exactly" U muttered aiming the kit at the spot of suspicion. Triggered pulled, the kit sent out a small bubbled field of energy that cut the area off from the rest of the container. _No sense blowing up lunch_ she thought wryly.

MH-2378 checked the joints of her plasticine armor. Their suits could withstand small blasts in a pinch but any opening was an quick rsvp to the infirmary. "Alright going in, stars! I can't believe I missed this."

U held the field steady. "Gotta take it slow once in awhile M." M scoffed and slipped under the field to open the hauler.

"Just remember to narrow the field if we have a live one alright? I don't want to be scrubbing off scorch marks again like last time." She grumbled to U before carefully prying open the door.

U grinned and held the kit more firmly as she watched M dart in technicolor into the hauler and inspect the lock mech. "See anything?" She called.

"Yep spot on as always, neat little perchlorate pouch tucked up underneath. We got lucky this time, the Rebs forgot to attach an initiator. Must have hired some amateur local to slip it on."

"Must have..." U agreed with a nod. She toggled a switch on the side of the kit which narrowed the field down to cover only the small lump of a pouch M had found. "Alright light it up."

M whisked a small standard issue shock prod and tapped the outside of the field. The energy bolt sparked through the field and as it flashed it ignited the contents of the pouch erupting the small field into a small short lived fireball. U switched off the kit and watched the smoke funnel out of the hauler as M jumped back down into the hanger.

"Alright all good." M shrugged. "I'll let you lead the way with the next one."

UI-4003 chuckled and tucked the kit up under her arm. They might need it again.

"Sure let's go."


End file.
